


Good Night, Jennie Kim

by fleetwoodsnac



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), I Just - Red Velvet (Song), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Baristas, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleetwoodsnac/pseuds/fleetwoodsnac
Summary: Jennie Kim hires Kang Seulgi to be her fake girlfriend for the week.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi, Jennie Kim/Kim Jisoo, Kang Seulgi/Jennie Kim, Kim Jisoo/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	1. The Plan

“For the last time, Jennie Kim- I don’t want to be your girlfriend!” 

The people in the coffee shop stare at the two gorgeous girls who are in the middle of an argument. I mean it’s hard not to- Jennie Kim and Kim Jisoo are the two most popular girls in the university. Beauty, brains, money and they’re actually really nice too.

“Will you keep your voice down? You’re making a scene.” Jennie slinks back lower into her chair, wanting to disappear. “And besides, I’m just asking you to be my fake girlfriend...for the week...while my mother is in town. You’re my best friend, I don’t understand why you don’t want to do it.”

Jisoo enjoys teasing Jennie like this, pulling little pranks like this on each other is what their relationship was built on. “Number one, I’m actually seeing somebody. And number two, I don’t want to lie to your mother. Have you met her? She’s scary!!!”

“Yes, I’ve met her. Which is why I need a girlfriend ASAP or else she’s going to start setting me up on all these blind dates that I really don’t have time for.” 

“Order for Miss Turtlerabbit Kim?” 

Jisoo’s head snaps into attention. It’s now Jennie’s turn to laugh. 

“Miss Turtlerabbit Kim? Two vanilla lattes for JisooTurtlerabbit Kim?”

Jennie explodes into more laughter as Jisoo rushes to the counter to get their drinks. 

“I really don’t understand why you play into her games” Jisoo tells the barista as she walks up to the counter to claim their drinks. 

“She tips me really well,” Seulgi smiles as she hands over their drinks. 

“Don’t I tip you really well?” Jisoo says in reply. 

“Yeah you do, but…” Seulgi’s face turns into a distinct shade of pink and she avoids Jisoo’s eyes like she’s avoiding the plague. 

A lightbulb goes off in Jisoo’s head as she leans over the counter to say, “Kang Seulgi, you have a big fat crush on Jennie Kim!” 

Seulgi drops the drink she was just about to serve and it lands all over her apron.

Jisoo grabs her drinks and doesn’t wait for an answer, instead she says, “get cleaned up and meet us after class.” 

  
  
  


\----

“I really don’t know about this, doesn’t she have a girlfriend?” Jennie says as she and Jisoo make their way back to the cafe to meet up with Seulgi.

“They broke up a couple of weeks ago,” Jisoo says, not really paying attention because she’s too busy looking for her girlfriend, “and besides, didn’t you have a crush on Seulgi back in freshman year?”

Out of nowhere, a girl with pink hair jumps on Jisoo’s back and smothers her with kisses. “What are we talking about?” 

“We’re talking about Jennie’s crush on Seulgi,” Jisoo says while returning the kisses Rose just gave her. 

“I do not have a crush on Seulgi!!!!! And you guys are being gross!” Jennie says as she begins to walk faster to avoid the PDA that usually comes with hanging out #Chaesoo. 

  
  


“She’s the perfect fake girlfriend for you, she looks like a bear! What parent can say no to that???” 

  
  


“We don’t know anything about each other. You know how sly my mom is, we’re going to have to make this convincing. We’re going to need to prep, and that’s going to take some time. Does Seulgi even have time?”

“Jennie Kim, are you flustered?” Rose says as she puts she catches up to Jennie and puts her hand around her.

“I’m just saying that this is going to be an investment and I don’t know who in their right mind would say yes to this!” 

“We’re going to pay her,” Jisoo says as Rose and Jennie both turn to look at her.

“What? Like you said, this is going to take a lot of time...and effort”

“HEY!” Jennie says in protest. 

The couple laughs at their friend because they know that Jennie Kim hasn’t really kept anyone around for as long as they’ve known her. Jennie Kim has standards and she refuses to settle. People think she’s scary and intimidating but only those who are close to know the soft little mandu side that she keeps so closely guarded. 

“Seulgi works two jobs just to stay in school so in a way...we’re hitting two birds with one stone.” 

  
  


\---

Seulgi is waiting for them outside the cafe when they get there. Jennie has forgotten, or has tried to forget, how beautiful Seulgi really is. She remembers how heartbroken she was back in freshman year when she found out that her first college crush had a long-term girlfriend who just so happened to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. Their interactions since then have been limited to saying hi to each other at parties, or the small talk they exchange daily when Jennie grabs her coffee. 

Jennie’s hands start to sweat, she curses herself for not retouching her makeup before they started walking to the cafe. She’s in the middle of trying to figure out if she has a breath mint hidden in her bag somewhere when she feels a sharp pain in her arm.

“Earth to mandu?” Jisoo says and Jennie snaps back to reality to see all three girls staring at her. 

Shitshitshitshitshit. What were they talking about?

“So I was just telling Seulgi about how you had a favor to ask of her…” Jisoo says as she looks at her expectantly. 

“Yeah, um...so...wow your shirt is really cute! Where did you get it? I think I have one just like that. I don’t know where it is though, I’m going to need to find it when I get home...my dogs probably ate it...” Jennie mumbles, wanting to stop but being unable to. 

Rose laughs beside her while Seulgi is just standing there looking confused.

“What my friend is trying to say is that she needs you to be her fake girlfriend while her mother is in town,” Jisoo says while turning to Rose to ask, “Chaeng, do you have that thing i asked you to bring?”

Rose pulls a thick brown envelope out of her backpack and hands it to Jisoo who hands it to Seulgi. “This is your downpayment.”

Seulgi takes a peek into what’s in the envelope and lets out an audible gasp, “this is....a lot….too much...are you guys really paying me to do this?”

Jisoo is known to be the most calm person in their friend group. She can say what needs to be said in a manner that is straight to the point and effective. So she makes the effort to explain the situation to Seulgi, “dating Jennie Kim is a job, a full-time job. And we expect you to be fully committed to it and to do your job well. The goal is to send Mrs. Kim back to New Zealand thinking that her beloved Jennie is in a healthy committed relationship with a wonderful girl so that she’ll stop bugging her about dating the sons of her business partners.” 

Seulgi doesn’t know what to say. She thinks this is weird, but she could really use this money. Her grades have been slipping recently because she’s been too tired to study after working for most of the day. She even spends her weekends teaching dance classes in the local studio for extra cash. She could really use the break and the distraction too. The breakup hasn’t been easy on her, giving everything she had to a relationship that didn’t work out in the end can really do a number on you. And she thinks that maybe, maybe she can do this one nice thing for herself and it wouldn’t be so bad. 

“I’ll do it,” Seulgi says, finally looking up from the envelope of cash and looking straight at Jennie. She doesn’t meet her eyes though, Jennie looks at the ground while chewing on her bottom lip.

“My baby is a genius, my baby is a genius!” Rose starts to sing while Jisoo dances along to the melody. “We’re going to leave you guys to figure stuff out because Hank and Dalgom are waiting for us at home!” 

“Um, so...maybe I should get your number?” Jennie finally says when it’s just the two of them. 

Seulgi can sense the girl hesitate so she thinks now is the perfect time to turn her work mode on. Seulgi takes out her phone and hands it to Jennie so she can put her number in. When she gets it back she asks, “so, what should I call you?”

“Um...Jennie?”

“No, I know that’s your name, but what should I call you? Babe? Darling? Honey?”

“Ew no, those are all gross.”

Seulgi laughs because she’s right. The girl she loved used to call her “Seulgiyah” but Jennie doesn’t really need to know that. “I think I’ll call you Nini <3\. See? That’s your name on my phone.” 

“I’m just going to put a bear emoji and call it a day,” Jennie says with a serious look on her face. To the untrained eye, Jennie’s face may look like she doesn’t want to be there but her friends all know that that’s actually her happy face. 

\----

  
  
  
  
  



	2. 101

Jennie doesn’t know how to do this. She’s never really introduced anyone to her mom before. They’ve lived apart for most of their lives which is why it came as a surprise that her mom decided to come to Seoul for a surprise just to visit her. She later found out that her mom is coming over with the intention to set Jennie up on a bunch of dates. 

Despite living away from home most of her life, Jennie has ticked most of the boxes of what a good daughter is supposed to do. Get into a good university? Check. Get good grades? Check. Speak two languages? Check. The one box that remains empty is to find someone she’s going to marry. Despite protesting many times over the years that not everyone finds the love of their life while in college, her mom thinks otherwise and is determined to put Jennie on the path of marriage. 

“Finding a good partner now means that the search won’t distract you when you’re establishing your career. It’s good to do it while you’re still at school, while you still have the time,” her mother says over the phone during one of their weekly conversations.

Which is why Jennie finds herself on the floor of #Chaesoo’s apartment, watching Jisoo set up a whiteboard in her living room. Her best friend is wearing a white button down shirt, cardigan and glasses while writing the words "Professor Chu" on the board. She’s got to admit, even if Jisoo said no to being her fake girlfriend, she’s done a pretty good job as a supportive best friend so far.

The doorbell rings and Jennie gets up to answer it. She opens the door to find Seulgi dressed in baggy sweats, an oversized pullover and a baseball cap. Seulgi apologizes for being late, telling her that the dance class she was teaching that morning ended later than it should have and she didn’t have time to run home and change.

Jennie rearranges her face into a smile and tells Seulgi that they definitely have to go shopping before she meets her mom. Jennie loves the outfit, in fact, it took a some effort for her jaw not to drop to the floor when she opened the door and saw Seulgi, her mother on the other hand would have a very different reaction.

Seulgi and Jennie take their seats on the couch, a considerable amount of space between them, as Jisoo clears her throat. She flips over the whiteboard she’s been writing on to reveal two columns marked as “Jennie” and “Seulgi”. Rose walks out from the bedroom with a stack of papers which she hands to the two girls, handouts that Jisoo has prepared in advance.

Seulgi can’t help but to laugh at all the effort. _Jennie Kim is known as the human Chanel. Her favorite number is 3. She likes milk flavored ice cream. She sometimes suffers from motion sickness._

“I’d like to thank my lovely assistant, Chaeyoung, for all the effort. See me after class so I can thank you properly,” Jisoo says with a wink as Rose does an exaggerated bow in front of her captive audience.

Jennie makes a gagging face as she says, “please guys, not in front of the children!”. Dalgom and Hank bark in agreement. 

Professor Chu clears her throat as she goes through all the random things the girls have to know about each other. Their birthdays, blood types, likes, dislikes, and disrupting the lesson to show a video of young Jennie in her school in New Zealand trying her best to cut onions. Seulgi and Jisoo get a good laugh at this, replaying the video many times before Jennie gives them both a look that explicitly tells them to stop without having to say a word. 

By the end of the session, Jennie is sprawled out on the couch, while Seulgi is lying on the floor quietly snoring while cuddling both Hank and Dalgom. Jennie secretly finds the sight of the three bear-like creatures on the floor adorable and sneakily takes a photo of them. Jisoo sees her best friend do this, but keeps her smile to herself. She may tease Jennie a lot, but she just wants Jennie to be happy. 


	3. Boundaries

Seulgi ends up walking Jennie home after they leave #Chaesoo’s apartment. They walk in silence for a while until Seulgi’s stomach rumbles so loudly that they both can’t help but laugh.

“Do you wanna come up? I can cook you something,” Jennie says when they finally get to her apartment. 

“I don’t want to trouble you, it’s late. I can just go make myself some ramyun when I get home,” Seulgi says, while shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“I can’t let my fake girlfriend go hungry, come on. I was planning to make myself something anyway.”

Seulgi plays with Kai and Kuma while Jennie busies herself in the kitchen. Jennie rarely invites people to her apartment, preferring to keep it to herself and her two sons, but for some reason having Seulgi there just feels right.

Seulgi sets the table while Jennie finishes plating the dumplings she just finished cooking. “Isn’t...that cannibalism?” Seulgi says, her face barely containing the laugh she’s holding in. “It’s a mandu, eat mandu world, Miss Kang,” Jennie says with a straight face. 

Seulgi insists on doing the dishes after they eat so Jennie is sprawled out on her couch surrounded by Kai and Kuma. Having someone do the dishes is another advantage of having a fake girlfriend, she thinks to herself. When she’s done, Seulgi takes some hesitant steps towards Jennie.

“So um, there’s something I want to talk to you about…” Seulgi says, her voice softer than it usually is. Jennie makes room in the couch and Seulgi takes a seat beside her.

“I was thinking about boundaries,” Seulgi starts, “I know we’re supposed to be in love, but how comfortable are you with physical contact?” Seulgi remembers all those years ago when her ex-girlfriend first wrapped her arms around her own, she froze like a robot and was at a loss for what to do. She has improved a lot since then, going from tolerating skinship to actually initiating it, but Jennie is not her ex-girlfriend, and Seulgi just wants to make sure she does things right.

“I’m actually a really touchy person,” Jennie says as she makes a move to sit closer to Seulgi. She doesn’t know what gods of courage and bravery take over her at that moment but she says, “do you want to practice?” She bats her eyelashes at the other girl for added effect.

Seulgi suddenly finds herself unable to speak, so she nods her head instead. 

Jennie takes it slow, reaching down to grab the other girl’s hand, making sure their fingers end up intertwined with each other. 

Seulgi looks down to see their hands looking like they fit together perfectly which she never thought she would think about holding another girl’s hand ever again. She thought she found the one set of hands she would hold forever but life has a funny way of working out. 

Jennie moves in even closer and wraps Seulgi’s arms around her. The act is more intimate than she thought it would be, being close enough to know what Seulgi smells like, and her heart starts beating so fast she thinks her chest is about to explode. “Um, so, I think this is how close we’re going to get in front of my mother…” Jennie says as she breaks away from the moment.

Seulgi stands up, creating an even bigger space between the two girls. “It’s late, and I have a lot of homework to do…”

Jennie nods and begins to walk her towards the door.

“Thanks for dinner,” Seulgi says, reaching her hand out for Jennie to shake. 

Jennie doesn’t know why she wishes the night would end differently. Well, she kind of knows why but she’s not ready to admit that to herself just yet, so she takes Seulgi’s hand and shows off her firm handshake. 

“Good night, Jennie Kim.”

“Good night, Kang Seulgi”. 


	4. How I Met Your Mother

Seulgi is dressed in a white button down shirt and white slacks with her hair tied up neatly in a bun. It’s what she would have worn to meet her ex-girlfriend’s parents if she ever had the chance.

She waits for Jennie to arrive outside the restaurant where they’re supposed to have lunch with her mom. It’s in the part of town Seulgi doesn’t usually go to- the people around her are more serious and uptight, adding to the nervousness that Seulgi already feels. 

She goes through some facts in her head to calm her down: Jennie is a capricorn, her favorite colors are black and pink, she only wears Chanel. After she runs out textbook facts about Jennie, some other things start popping into her head: the way Jennie breaks into a gummy smile whenever Seulgi makes one of her no-jam jokes, how fast Jennie can switch from fierce to aegyo whenever she sees something cute, the way Jennie is so devoted to Kuma and Kai…

Seulgi’s thoughts are interrupted when a shiny black Mercedes pulls up in front of her. Jennie gets out of the car wearing a black dress, her hair in loose curls, walking towards her with a hesitant smile on her face. For a moment she forgets that this beautiful woman is here for her. 

Jennie stops right in front of her, and gives Seulgi a soft peck on her cheek. She laughs when she sees that some of her lipstick has rubbed off on the bear, and uses her thumb to wipe it off completely. 

“Are you ready?” Jennie asks, her left brow lifts up in anticipation.

Seulgi lets out the breath she’s been holding.  _ No I’m not. _ And flashes Jennie her signature smile, hoping it masks the nervousness she’s been feeling. 

Jennie pulls out a little black pouch from her purse, she tells Seulgi to open her hand and empties out its contents: three Cartier bracelets, a Chanel watch and a Bvlgari ring. “These are just for today,” Jennie explains as she starts fastening the bracelets around Seulgi’s wrist. “These might make things easier for you in there.” 

They hold hands as they walk into the restaurant. It might just be her imagination, but Seulgi feels the whole room look at them as they make their way through the tables adorned with white table cloths and more utensils than Seulgi knows what to do with. They’re led into the very back part of the restaurant, where a woman, who looks ten times more intimidating than Jennie is, waits for them while looking through the menu.

Jennie bows when they get to the table and Seulgi follows suit. This formality, especially in the presence of family isn’t something that Seulgi is used to. “Mother, you’re early,” Jennie says as she takes the empty seat beside the woman. “Being on time is being late, you should know that by now,” the elderly woman replies.

Seulgi is left standing, as if waiting for permission to take a seat. What has she gotten herself into?

“Mother, this is Kang Seulgi,” the woman looks at her with a slight interest, “my girlfriend”. Jennie takes Seulgi’s hand as she pulls her down to the empty seat beside her.

They sit there in silence for what seems like an eternity to Seulgi, but Jennie looks like this doesn’t faze her at all.

“So, tell me, how did you and my daughter meet?” 

A wave of relief washes through Jennie. This topic was one of the first lessons Jisoo instilled in them. They practiced this so she knows that Seulgi will say the right things: they met at an honor society meeting a year ago, they’ve been dating for a month but Seulgi has been in love with her since they met. Seulgi plans on becoming a doctor. A web of lies that has been carefully constructed for this very moment.

Seulgi rubs her sweaty palms against her white trousers, the room is cold but she feels a sweat creeping up on her brow. Seulgi is a very bad liar, her eyes are too expressive to hide anything. So it surprises Jennie when she hears the other girl say, “we met on my first day at work at the coffee shop. I’m a very clumsy person and I ran into her while holding a tray of matcha lattes that spilled all over the both of us. I was freaking out, but she was very nice about it and I never forgot about that.”

Jennie is in shock because she didn’t actually think Seulgi remembered that day, let alone that it was her that she crashed into. Jennie files away this thought for later, because right now, she has to do some damage control. “Seulgi’s family owns a chain of coffee shops around Seoul, she is working her way up through the family business, she’s hardworking but humble, which is one of the things that I love about her,” she says while reaching out to hold Seulgi’s hand, a smile plastered on her face. 

The rest of the lunch is tense, and Seulgi can’t wait to get out of there. When their food arrives, the portions are tiny, the food unrecognizable. Thankfully, Mrs. Kim doesn’t ask her any more questions, so she sits and listens to the mother and daughter talk about boring things like politics and business. It is a far cry from the family meals she shares with her mother and father in Ansan. 

Jennie and Seulgi are in a car heading back to campus. Seulgi stares out the window as they make their way through the streets of Seoul, a sight she rarely gets to see since she takes the train most of the time.

“Why....why did you lie about me?” Seulgi asks, sounding more emotional than she intended to be. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, why did you lie about my parents owning coffee shops?”

“You went off-script, I had to improvise,” Jennie says with a rough edge to her voice. 

Seulgi feels a bit guilty for that, but she can’t shake off the hurt that she’s been feeling. She thinks that maybe she should just let it go, she learned from her past relationship that bringing up things like this always ends up in a fight so Seulgi bottled up most of her little grievances until she couldn’t take it anymore. But she promised herself she wouldn’t do that anymore, that she wouldn’t ever make herself small just to appease someone else.

“If we were dating...if we were dating for real, would it matter that I’m a working student who has two jobs just to make ends meet?”

Jennie refuses to meet her eyes, she lets the question hang between them. She knows this arrangement is fake, a transaction between two people, but why does this moment feel so real?

“It wouldn’t matter to me, but it would matter to my family,” Jennie says slowly, “my mother would probably keep trying to find a better match for me.” 

The answer hurts Seulgi more than it should which bothers her. She just got out of a 7 year relationship, she shouldn’t even be thinking about dating other people, but why does it feel like Jennie Kim just turned her down. To break the tension, she turns to the girl right beside her and says, “I guess it’s a good thing we’re not dating then”. She lets out a fake laugh for good measure. 

“I now understand why you did it,” Jennie says.

“Did what?”

“Why you told my mother the truth about how we met. It’s because you’re a really bad liar, Kang Seulgi.”

The realization of what that all meant hangs over them for the rest of the ride home. 


	5. The Morning After

It takes a lot of effort for Jennie to walk to her door from her bedroom because she’s feeling the worst she’s ever felt in her life.

After yesterday’s disastrous lunch and the confusing car ride home afterwards, Jennie made the last minute decision to attend a party her friend Mino was hosting. One shot led to another which led to another which led to another which led to a Sunday morning hangover, the likes of which Jennie Kim has never experienced.

The only reason she gets up to answer the door is because she thinks it’s the fried chicken delivery she ordered for lunch. Which is why she’s surprised to see Seulgi standing there, holding the fried chicken in question.

_Fuck._ She thinks to herself. Doing a quick assessment of what she must look like right now: remnants of the makeup she was wearing last night, her hair in tangles, and her breath must smell a bit like puke. 

“You weren’t answering my texts so I got worried,” Seulgi explains. 

Jennie steps aside to let the human bear through, opting to walk straight back into bed because she just can’t deal with any of this right now. She lays there in silence, hoping that Seulgi would just leave on her own but she underestimated how nice the other girl actually is.

After a few minutes, Seulgi walks in with a tray of fried chicken, rice, and a tall bottle of water. She opens the blinds to let some sunlight into the dark room. 

“Seulgi, I can’t,” Jennie says, burying her head into her pillow. “Go away, I can’t do this right now”.

“I messed up yesterday, and I’m sorry. I should have stuck to the script, so I’m here to make it up to you.”

Jennie feels her mattress shift and when she finally lifts her head, she sees Seulgi in bed right beside her. She’s too weak to argue so she doesn’t say anything. They spend the afternoon in bed like that, Seulgi nursing her back to health and never leaving her side even as she drifts in and out of sleep.

When Jennie finally wakes up from her nap, she finds a chill where a warmth should have been. She has a vague recollection of snuggling up to Seulgi that afternoon but she looks around to find her room void of any signs of her. She wonders if that moment was just a product of her drunken stupor, but as if reading her mind, the door opens and Seulgi walks in with a box of pizza.

“Feeling better?,” the bear says as she puts the pizza box on the nightstand. 

“Sort of,” Jennie says as she checks her phone to find 20 missed calls from her mother. Worry descends upon her face immediately but she decides to just deal with all of that after she eats.

“Your mom dropped by, I told her you were sleeping because you had a fever,” Seulgi says tentatively, not wanting to screw up her job of being Jennie’s fake girlfriend yet again. When the other girl doesn’t say anything, she decides to go on.

“It was actually pretty awkward at first because I was in the middle of cleaning up your puke from my shirt,” this catches Jennie’s attention but she doesn’t say anything, “but I ended up making her some tea and I introduced her to Kuma and Kai...and....”

Seulgi hesitates with what she really wants to say, "I told her that my dad is a civil service worker and my mom is a housewife. And that I work two jobs to put myself through school..."

Jennie stares at her in disbelief. “This is bad,”is all she manages to say.

“I told you I’d make it up to you didn’t I? I think she actually liked me better after I told her the truth. I mean not the whole truth but the truth about me. Look, I have a photo of her with Kuma and Kai on my phone!” 

Seulgi hands Jennie her phone and sure enough, there’s a photo of her mother in pure bliss surrounded by her two dogs. Miracles never cease, she thinks to herself.

"I did good right?" Seulgi prods, when Jennie doesn't say anything for a while. 

"Kang Seulgi, you did great," Jennie says, feeling a little bit lighter than she has felt in a long while. 


	6. May I have this dance?

“Thanks again for lending me this suit,” Seulgi says as she takes in an image of her wearing a black suit and a crisp white shirt with a necktie in the mirror. She came over to borrow a suit from Jisoo, and the older girl is helping her get ready. 

Jisoo steps in to help her fix her tie, Dalgom and Hank are milling about by their feet. “You look really good, Deulgi. I won’t be surprised if Mrs. Kim asked you to marry Jennie by the end of this week.” 

Seulgi lets out a small laugh.

“How’s it going anyway? It must be a good sign that she insisted you go to this charity gala last minute…” 

“Things didn’t start out great but I think she’s really beginning to like me,” Seulgi says.

“Are you talking about Mrs. Kim or Jennie?” Jisoo teases as she watches Seulgi pace back and forth across her living room. They might have only become friends recently but Jisoo knows that the pacing is a telltale sign that Seulgi has a lot of things on her mind. 

“Erm….both? But I mean, it’s not like I’m in the right place right now to you know…”

“You’re right. You’re not,” Jisoo starts, stern but gentle. “Which is why you need to keep things professional. Don’t forget, you’re being paid to do this, and I know you’re going to do a good job. Jennie may not be good at looking out for herself but it’s a part of your job to do that for her.”

\---

Jennie and Seulgi are in a car on the way to the charity ball. They haven’t really seen or messaged each other in a couple of days so the air is filled with hesitant tension.

“Thanks again for coming to this. I tried to tell my mom that it’s a school night and you’re probably really busy but she seems to really like you and she insisted that you come along,” Jennie says, finally breaking the silence.

Seulgi reaches out to grab the other girl’s hand and gives it a tight squeeze, “stop thanking me, Jennie Kim. It’s a good excuse for me to show off my dancing skills”

Jennie bursts into a fit of laughter and Seulgi flashes her a confused look.

“You do know that no one actually dances in balls right?”

“They don’t?”

“Some old people might do a waltz every now and then, but otherwise it’s just a glorified networking event.”

Seulgi can’t hide the look of disappointment on her face, which Jennie finds absolutely adorable. 

“Is it too late to back out now?” Seulgi says as she pretends to open the car door while it’s still moving. 

This makes Jennie laugh even more. “Maybe we can sneak in a dance in the corner later in the night? If you do a good job of charming all of my mother’s friends,” Jennie says as she grabs Seulgi’s hand to kiss it. 

The gesture is intimate and they both freeze right after it happens. They let go of each other’s hands quickly, Seulgi places hers on her lap while Jennie reaches into her purse to retouch her makeup. 

  
  


\---

The ball is grander than anything Seulgi could have ever imagined. There was a famous actor, idol, journalist or politician wherever she looked. She wouldn’t have known what to do with herself which is why it was a good thing that Jennie never lets go of her hand as they make their way through the sea of influential people.

“Seulgi, my darling girl, I’m so glad you’re here!” Mrs. Kim pulls Seulgi into a tight hug and immediately introduces her to the women she was talking to. 

“It’s nice to see you too, mom,” Jennie says, a bit hurt that her mother greeted Seulgi before her. 

The rest of the evening goes smoothly, they get through the boring speeches and the awkward small talk, they nod and bow whenever they’re introduced to someone new, and they politely nod their head everytime a conservative uncle or auntie says something stupid about two girls being together.

Through it all, Seulgi never leaves Jennie’s side. Her hand was always there for her to grab, or when Jennie was busy talking animatedly with both her hands, Seulgi would rest her hand on the small of her back to let her know that she was right there beside her. When Jennie was thirsty, Seulgi would go grab her a drink, when she was tired of standing, Seulgi would find an empty seat for them to rest in, whenever she could see that Jennie was getting annoyed with whoever she was talking to, Seulgi would diffuse the tension by saying a self-deprecating story about herself. 

When they’ve run out of people to talk to and they’re alone for the first time in hours, Jennie turns to Seulgi and whispers something into her ear, “Kang Seulgi, will you dance with me?”

Seulgi’s face lights up immediately, and Jennie doesn’t even wait for an answer as she drags the bear to the middle of the empty dance floor.

Jennie drapes her arms on Seulgi’s shoulders as the band plays a classic song. _You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you._

They start swaying to the beat of the song and singing along to the words. 

_I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright, I need you, baby to warm the lonely night_

Seulgi breaks out of Jennie’s arms as the chorus hits. She spins Jennie around as they both break into dance as the chorus hits. Jennie is in awe of how good a dancer Seulgi is, and the people who have gathered around to watch her seem to think so too.

_Oh, pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray. Oh, pretty baby, now that I've found you, stay._

When the song ends, they’re surprised by the number of Mrs. Kim’s friends who want to dance with Seulgi. So Jennie leaves her date alone to fend for herself as she goes to find her mother. 

She finds her sitting on an empty table, nursing a glass of champagne. She takes the empty seat beside her. They say nothing for a while, both women watching Seulgi dance with all these women who are three times her age. She gives them all equal attention, her years of experience as a dance teacher helping her shine in this moment. 

“You know Jennie, it might not seem like it, but I’ve always worried about you,” Mrs. Kim says softly. Jennie doesn’t know what to say, because she’s right, there are times when she has wondered if her mother did care about her. She has spent half of her life living away from home, practically having to raise herself. 

“But the other day, when I came to your apartment to check up on you, I saw just how well Seulgi took care of you that day. And tonight, I don’t even know if you noticed but she never left your side. I feel like a big weight has been lifted knowing that I wouldn’t have to worry about you anymore.”

Jennie bites down on her lower lip, she feels her heart beating faster than it normally should. “Mom, there’s something you should know about Seulgi-”

“I already know. She told me about her family, and being a working student, and having to support herself. It’s not what I would have wanted for my only daughter, but at the end of the day, I’ve seen how much she cares for you and that’s all that matters.”

Before Jennie can finish what she’s trying to say, Seulgi appears right in front of her with a big smile on her face. The kind of smile that shows off her one dimple, and renders her eyes into adorable crescent shapes. “Mrs. Kim, I can’t let the night end without dancing with you,” Seulgi says as she reaches her hand out to Jennie’s mother. 

And so just when Jennie thought that her mother could no longer surprise her, she watches as her fake girlfriend spins her mother around the dance floor.

  
  


-

“My mother is in love with you,” Jennie tells Seulgi as they stand in front of her apartment door. 

“At least I got one Kim woman to fall in love with me,” Seulgi says with a twinkle in her eye.

It’s way too late and they’re both probably a bit too drunk on champagne to be having this conversation, but here they are standing an inch apart, trying to figure each other out. 

“That’s because you were paid to do that, Kang Seulgi,” Jennie replies pushing a finger into Seulgi’s chest just to prove a point. 

A wrinkle appears between Seulgi’s brows, a look she often gives when she doesn’t like what the other person is saying. 

“Don’t say that, Jennie Kim.”

“I’m just telling the truth.”

“Yeah but I thought...I thought these past few days were more than...”

“More than a business arrangement?”

Jennie doesn’t know why she does this. She doesn’t know why she has the habit of pushing people away when she feels like they’re getting too close. And she can see herself doing it all over again, she can hear herself saying all these hurtful things now knowing how to stop it. And the thing is that she wants to stop it, she wants to stop being mean because she has feelings for Seulgi even though she knows that she shouldn’t. She knows that this girl is being paid to spend time with her, that this girl is fresh out of a relationship, that their lives are way too different, but something tugs on her heart when she sees that Seulgi bites down on her bottom lip and she looks like she’s trying not to cry. 

“I guess I'll leave then. Good night, Jennie Kim.”

But before Seulgi can walk away, Jennie grabs on to her arm and pulls her into a kiss. It starts out slow at first, Jennie is hesitant while Seulgi is in shock. But they settle into it, and it becomes more passionate, more intense, as they slowly make their way into Jennie’s apartment where they spend the night together.


	7. Where I'm Supposed to Be

Seulgi wakes up to find an empty space where Jennie is supposed to be.

A tsunami of feelings crashes over her when she remembers what they did last night. 

This is not good.

But it isn’t bad either?

She decides to look for Jennie but she’s nowhere to be found.

Her phone has a bunch of notifications, but none of them are from the one person she wants to hear from. She tries to give her a call but she doesn’t pick up.

Seulgi spends the rest of the day in Jennie’s apartment waiting for the other girl, but when the sun begins to set and there’s still no sign of the other girl, she decides to take Kai and Kuma for a walk instead.

Seulgi watches the sunset while sitting on a park bench with Kai and Kuma playing by her feet. She thinks back to this time last month, when she was so sad and broken, thinking she would never ever have a reason to smile again. She thinks about  _ Irene, _ a name she has been trying to avoid saying or thinking about because it brought about too much pain, but when she says it out loud now, the pain has transformed from something sharp to a dull ache. But then she also thinks about Jennie, and what she feels for the other girl, was any of it real or was it all just for show?

When the street lights begin to turn on, Seulgi, Kuma and Kai make their way back to Jennie’s apartment. They find her sitting on the couch, staring at her phone.

“I was worried that you guys were kidnapped or something,” Jennie says when they walk into the room.

“We were getting restless so we went out for a walk…”

It’s the way Seulgi says  _ we,  _ so effortlessly and without distinction. It’s everything the  _ we _ implies that makes Jennie madder. How can she do this? How can she walk into Jennie’s life when she’s obviously not ready?

“I brought my mom to the airport, I told her you had classes the whole day which is why you couldn’t make it…”

“I would have gone with you if you asked, Nini...”

“There was really no need for that,” Jennie reaches down to pick up a thick brown envelope filled with cash that was waiting on the coffee table. “This is the rest of your payment...you did good. My mom loved you.”

Seulgi just stands there, she doesn’t make a move to grab the envelope.

“Seulgi, don’t make this harder than what it needs to be. Just take it.” 

Jennie grabs her hand and forces the envelope on her.

“I can’t take this, last night was…”

“Last night was a mistake.” Jennie turns around to face the window because she can’t take this anymore. “I think you should leave.”

“Jennie, I can’t just… I… I think that I…”

“Look, we both know what this was so don’t mistake it for anything else. I don’t know what you think was going on between us but I knew from day one that this was just a business deal. So please leave because I have stuff to do…”

Jennie hears the other girl say her goodbyes to Kuma and Kai before the door closes. It’s a couple of minutes before she can get herself to turn around, because she knows that when she does, it will all be over. There will be nothing but an empty room. 

When she does turn around, she sees two thick brown envelopes waiting for her on the table instead of one. 

  
  



	8. I'm ready for you

Jennie and Jisoo walk with their arms wrapped around each other. Jisoo has a frown on her face because she knows it’s another day she has to pay for subpar coffee which is why she was surprised when her friend started leading her in the opposite direction.

“Where are we going, Mandu?”   
  


“We’re going to get you your favorite, coffee,” Jennie says with a wink.

The smile on Jisoo’s face is bigger than it should be, but she decides not to say anything because she doesn’t want to ruin whatever this could be.

They get to the coffee shop and Seulgi is standing behind the counter. To say that she was shocked to see them would be an understatement because that girl really can’t hide her emotions to save her life.

Jisoo tells Jennie that she’ll go save them a seat but the other girl refuses to let go of her. She leans in a bit closer, “you’re doing the right thing,” she whispers, as she unclasps Jennie’s hand from her arm. 

Jennie’s heart starts beating fast, her palms begin to sweat as she curses and thanks the girl in front of her for taking so long to order. A part of her wants to runaway, to forget about this whole putting yourself out there plan, but another part of her knows that she can’t live another day not knowing. She is so lost in thought that she doesn’t realize that the girl in front of her has left and it’s her turn to order.

Seulgi looks at her expectantly, her brows furrowed, biting her lower lip. Jennie doesn’t know if Seulgi has always been this adorable or if she really just missed seeing her. 

Jennie takes a step forward. She looks at the menu to buy herself some time while her hands hold on to the counter that separates the both of them.

“So what can I get you today?” Seulgi says lamely, because what else is there to say? 

“Can I get an iced americano and a vanilla latte please.” 

“Okay cool, is that it?”

“Yup that’s it.” Jennie hands over her card and watches as Seulgi goes through the motions. She wills herself to say something else, anything, but nothing comes. So she smiles as Seulgi hands her the receipt wrapped around her card and walks back to Jisoo, defeated.

Her best friend's face says it all: WTF WAS THAT? Jennie slumps into her seat because she doesn’t have an answer either. And at that second she sees her phone light up with a flight notification- her mother’s flight has landed, a reminder of why she’s here in the first place.

“Order for Jennie,” she hears a familiar voice say.

Jisoo leans back into her chair with her arms closed, making it clear that Jennie had to do this alone. 

Jennie walks up to the counter, her steps heavier than they should be, but everything changes when she sees Seulgi smiling at her from across the room.

“What took you so long?” Seulgi says when she hands over her order. She wears a slight smirk on her face, and as if to tease her she adds, “Jisoo will be mad if the ice starts melting.”

Focus, Jennie Kim. Focus.

Jennie takes a deep breath and looks Seulgi straight in the eye. It has always fascinated her that they are the exact same height, as if it’s a sign that the freckles in their eyes are mirror images and when they kiss they’re perfectly aligned. 

But she knows she’s getting way ahead of herself. So she gathers enough courage to say, “I’m sorry that we weren’t ready for each other then, but I’m ready for you now, Kang Seulgi.”

She doesn’t know if it’s just her imagination but she feels the whole room go silent, time grinds to a halt, and she watches as Seulgi wipes her hands on her apron. When she finally looks her in the eye she sees a smile on the other girl’s face, a smile that says I’m glad you’re here, I’ve missed you and I’ve been waiting for you too. 

Jennie breaks into a gummy smile and lets out the breath she’s been holding for months because she can finally see what her mom and her best friend have seen all along. 

“I’m ready for you too, Jennie Kim”, Seulgi says as she reaches over the counter to give her a kiss. The kiss is good, but what makes it even better is that this time, the kiss feels right. 

“You’re just going to have to wait 25 minutes until my shift ends,” Seulgi says when they finally take a break to catch their breath. Jennie gives her arm a playful squeeze, as she pushes her away to urge her to go back to work. "For you, I'll wait forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> So I've officially finished my first ever fic and it feels great. I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to read a story about such a niche ship but I hope it brought a smile to your face. If you're hungry for more #JenSeul I have an on-going fic that I will be updating soon. 
> 
> XX


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